Peripheral neuropathy FREEZING

Hi @johnbishop
I always have numbness/tingling in my feet, feels like I am walking on pillows. Have had 2 recent fall, feet not keeping up with me, hit the same knee both times, not good. I get stabbing pains in my legs, very random & rare now. I take a low dose of gabapentin, 100 mg 3 times a day. Any higher and it knocks me out. Mostly seems to work, very few pains lately. I also probably have Reynaud's. My fingers used to go dead white on me for years if it was cold, mostly when I was driving. That hasn't happened for a few years. I just turned 71 in January. We keep the house at 73 now (I am always cold unless under a ton of clothes), I would prefer 79 but only get that when I use the wood stove. lol
Was 17 here during the night, 25 now, got a little snow 3", might get more tonight. Going to run the wood stove soon. Barely run the AC in the summer, but we are in the mountains so it is cool. Run it a little to get the humidity out.
As I think back, my father was affected by the cold severely. We went rafting & he popped out of the raft. We almost had to take him to the hospital for hypothermia. We had him at an aunts cabin with her furnace on, he was under 3 quilts. None of us could stay inside due to the heat. Many times saw him covered in blankets while watching TV. He was a polio survivor, ended up w/ PPS.
Wonder if others have had shingles. I got them when I was 35. Could that be affecting the small nerve fibers? Hmmm. Something I will probably never know. I will check out some of the other groups. Thanks

I freeze in my house when it it is 73. It can come & go. My knees will feel icy, feet & hands frozen. I will get a ripple up my back and then it get really bad. I do have neuropathy. Take gabapentin. Right now I have 2 pairs of pants on, long sleeve shirt, hoodie and a big wrap on & gloves & still freezing. The other night I turned on the wood stove and when it got to 79 in the room I finally felt good. I found this...

Feeling like you are "freezing" at 75°F (a comfortable room temperature for most) when you have neuropathy is caused by a dysfunction in your nervous system that acts like a broken thermostat. Damaged peripheral nerves send incorrect temperature signals to the brain, interpreting moderate temperatures as freezing.

Here are the specific reasons why this happens:
Misinterpreted Nerve Signals: Damage to small nerve fibers can cause them to overreact to, or completely misinterpret, environmental changes. Even though 75°F is not cold, your damaged nerves can create "cold" sensations, often in the feet or hands, without an actual drop in temperature.
Reduced Circulation (Vasoconstriction): Neuropathy is often accompanied by reduced blood flow to the extremities. When your body feels even a slight drop from your body's preferred temperature, it may constrict blood vessels in your hands and feet to protect core temperature. This lack of blood flow makes your feet or hands feel genuinely cold, even if the air around you is warm.
"Icy" Pain Misfire: Neuropathy often causes a paradoxical "icy burn" sensation, where your nerves feel both numb and intensely cold/burning at the same time.
Lack of Proper Regulation: When nerves are damaged, they fail to regulate temperature and blood flow correctly. This means your body is not effectively managing the warmth in your extremities, leading to a constant or sudden cold feeling.

Reading some of the comments I think others are suffering like I do. I think this is what causes it.

John Bishop, hi there! I’m just wondering if anyone has ever talked about a tens unit helping peripheral neuropathy with my freezing feet. I use heating pads a lot and drink a lot of hot water and tonight my feet feel pretty good but somebody mentioned a tens unit for something else and I was just wondering if that might help with the peripheral neuropathy…. Thank you for all the help you post.
Bcool123

PS. John Bishop suggested looking up foods that cause inflammation I’m doing that right now. I live in Central Colorado, where it has been unusually warm and terribly dry, which doesn’t do the farmers any good but I am grateful for it. Good luck to you. Bcool123

@tmacnyc123 hi T Mac. I live in Central Colorado where our weather is usually just wonderful wonderful but this winter it has been so dry and so warm, which is not good for the farmers, but my feet love it. One of my favorite things to use is a foot warmer, which is a large heating pad from Cozy Winters. I use it every night. It’s not cheap, but neither are my feet! So that might help you wishing you warm toes.
Bcool123. Ps: I’m paying for the damn gas so I’m using it!!

@tmacnyc123

Look up inflammation on Google and read inflammation effects causing neuropathy. Then google search what foods cause inflammation. If you Google search “ Mayo Clinic food recommendations for reducing inflammation “ you will be amazed at what you find. Now the pillow feet, don’t buy sneakers that have over cushioning. You need to feel the ground underneath your feet then you can start a walking program. It’s your responsibility for your health so learn as much as you can about neuropathy and the effects and causes. Meditation only mask the symptoms but do nothing for slowing down the symptoms. Good luck

My fingers used to turn waxy white, but that hasn't happened in quite a long time. Was mostly a wintertime thing when it happened. I don't recall that it was very painful. You might want to consider relocating to a warmer area. The last couple of years I've found it harder to tolerate the cold.
My feet and lower legs ofter feel numb and like ice blocks. The other night one lower leg felt warm to the touch and the other one cold to the touch.
A long time ago I had stiff hands and fingers to the point I couldn't hold a golf club. A rheumatologist in Des Moines diagnosed CREST Syndrome
https://www.google.com/search
A rheumatologist at Mayo couldn't confirm CREST and sent me to a hand surgeon who worked on both hands with little success. A booklet given to me by my boss's wife mentioned flax oil as a possibility. I started taking it in capsule form and all of the issues with my hands went away. Today you would never guess that there was ever anything wrong with them.
That same booklet mentioned to take zinc for stinky feet. I started taking that too and and ever since I have not had an issue with foot odor. I wore a beater pair of tennis shoes for 2 years and they never needed washing. Even today I have no noticeable foot odor, stinky socks or sweatty feet. If I go for a few days without a shower my feet may feel sweatty, but they are dry to the touch. You don't need as much zinc as you might think. I take 22mg twice a day in the form of zinc picolinate which I get from Swanson's vitamins.
https://www.swansonvitamins.com/collections/customer-favorites
Be advised that I never found it helpful in dealing with the powerful foot odor that plagues some adolecent children.